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Graduating highschool and wanting to work as a programmer, advice? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by randomname@sh.itjust.works to c/programming@programming.dev

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I'm a junior in highschool and will be graduating next year, and the degree that makes the most sense to me is computer science. I've always loved using and tinkering with technology, and learning about it when I can.

I've taken the CS50p course as an introduction to coding, and have really enjoyed the problem solving nature of programming. I just don't know what the industry is like, and people keep saying the job market for CS majors is terrible. so I'm not 100% sure that a computer science degree would be right for me. any advice?

update: I've gotten a lot of good advice from comments and have decided to start a personal project of some sort, to test the waters and see if this is something I can do and enjoy as a hobby outside the CS50p course. thanks to everyone who responded!

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[–] 0x01@lemmy.ml 27 points 1 week ago

Nobody knows the future, but we can definitely speculate. Programming is still a good career if you're talented, but it may no longer be the golden standard of well paying jobs that it has been for the last few decades.

More important than anything, if you want to program, then do it. Don't wait for university to tell you how, get your hands dirty and start making something cool, a game, a web app, whatever.

Getting a job is hard for junior devs right this second for largely macroeconomic reasons, that may change in the future or it may not. You can sidestep that issue entirely with a solid portfolio.

Learn to use the latest ai tools, but don't rely on them to do the work and learning for you, "vibe coding" may or may not be a future career but if it is the salary will likely be significantly lower than software engineering.

A degree does not make a programmer, but programming does.